James A. Long was born on August 27, 1898, at York, Pennsylvania. Following a career in private business, he worked during WWII as a management consultant in the office of the Quartermaster General in Washington, DC, and was later transferred to the Department of State where he assisted in the change over to peacetime responsibilities. While there he was sent as an Advisor to the US Delegation to the United Nations at the opening of the Second Session in 1946.

Mr. Long joined the Theosophical Society in 1935 and was appointed business manager of its American Section in 1939. Upon retirement from government service in 1947, he moved to the Society's headquarters in California where he continued to work closely with Colonel Arthur L. Conger whom he succeeded as international head in 1951. That same year he founded Sunrise magazine and in 1965 the Sunrise Library series of books as vehicles for better understanding among all peoples. Mr. Long led the Theosophical Society until his death on July 19, 1971.